


the sun and the earth

by lorelaislatte



Series: even in another time [2]
Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: (you can guess), F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, You’ll never know, cambridge-verse, dani hates thunderstorms, emotionally charged comfort cuddling, possibly fucking in ely cathedral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorelaislatte/pseuds/lorelaislatte
Summary: dani is about to answer her when the first crack of thunder happens, and she drops the plate in fear, hearing jamie’s concerned exclamation as it smashes on the floor. she’s already shaking, made worse by the voice in her head taunting. twenty nine and you’re scared of a thunderstorm, it says. pathetic.in which dani hates thunderstorms and jamie loves dani
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Series: even in another time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097399
Comments: 40
Kudos: 128





	the sun and the earth

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i’m in a bit of a rut with love shack bc my comment numbers are TANKING and i can’t work out why, so i’ve hopped back over here for a nice familiar one before pushing through. 
> 
> nothing but softness ahead here. enjoy. happy fuckin thursday x

Dani _despises_ thunderstorms. 

The ones that cracked the sky apart in Iowa had given her nightmares, the feeling that the house itself was going to split apart and let the storm take her. She’d bundle her duvet up over her head, turn all the lights on, hum to herself with her hands over her ears, anything she could to block out the noise around her. Rain? Fine. Soft, gentle, constant. Thunderstorms? Absolutely not. 

She’d never had to worry about the Cambridge weather. Like most of England, it was a solid middle ground, never too hot or too cold, sunny in the summer and rainy in the winter. Rain in Cambridge is a favourite of hers - the buildings glisten, Clare becomes a sanctuary, its medieval walls protecting those inside from the torrents outside. Dani’s office is on the top floor, looking out over the back of the College - if she’s lucky, she’ll catch sight of Jamie working throughout the day, something that always brings a smile to her. It’s height makes the rain feel that much nicer when it happens, the copper pipes leading to the radiator rattling on, her thermos of hot chocolate on the side of her desk as her eyes sweep for Jamie with her own thermos, given to her by Dani that morning as they approached the College gates, sharing a kiss before going their separate ways. 

Dani looks at the pile of reports to mark next to her, the rain pattering against the glass of her window. She turns the radio on, letting the smooth crackling of Radio One gently fill the room as she picks up the first. She likes her undergraduate classes, and this, _Interpreting Metaphor in the 19th Century_ , one of her favourite modules to teach. She’d been thrilled at the amount of second-year students that had opted to take it, and if these reports were anything to go by, she’s got a talented group on her hands - she’s got about a quarter of them left to do, and so far, everybody is scoring in the top two categories. She’s far too modest to claim it as a success of her own, but Dani is glad she’s given her students a solid platform to explore their own ideas on. Her job, in her mind, is to set the foundations, and then act as a role for her students to approach, give them the space to explore and conceptualise while remaining a beacon of information for them. She’s pretty confident it’s working. 

She passes the day comfortably, wrapping up her final report at half past six, satisfied with the work done. Marking days are frustrating to most of the staff, many of whom have their own publications and planning to do, but Dani likes the easy routine in them, finds it a good way to get to know her students that bit better. There’s been interesting ideas in there, plenty of things for her to bring up in the individual meetings she’s having to discuss everybody’s grades, and it gives her a real sense of satisfaction as she puts her coat on, bracing herself to walk down to the Fellows’ Garden in the heavy November rain. 

Six years on and the sight of Jamie never, _ever_ fails to take her breath away. Crouched down in the dirt, replanting something-or-other, chatting easily with one of Dani’s students, many of whom know Jamie well and even attend her gardening club once a week. The student in question, Myra, looks up and smiles in greeting at Dani as she approaches, prompting Jamie to look up and immediately meet her with a dazzling grin, finishing up her task and standing up. Dani gives her a chaste kiss as Myra says hello, saying that she was just heading off. Dani nods, tells her to be careful in the dark - Myra is a student at Emmanuel, and fortunately doesn’t have far to go, but Dani reminds her to stick to the main roads anyway, satisfied only when she receives a promise in return. 

Jamie locks up her shed, washes her hands clean of soil in the tap outside, and brings Dani in for a proper kiss, hands on the small of her back as they stand flush against one another. “Dinner on the way back, and an evening in bed please,” she says, kissing Dani again. “There’s a storm coming on, I think. Best excuse to get cosy together.”

Dani forces a smile at that, reassuring herself that she’s an adult now, that she doesn’t have to worry about the shaking thunder in Iowa. Everything is more moderate in England, she tells herself, chances are she’ll barely notice it. 

It’s not that she’s _worried_ about Jamie knowing, not exactly. She won’t get laughed at, won’t get ridiculed in the same way her mother used to taunt her for being afraid of the weather. But she’s grown so much in the past few years, truly come into her own as she approaches thirty, and she hates the idea that lingering threads of her old self still have a hold on her. Hates the memories that resurface whenever she feels those same kinds of fear. 

“Hey, Poppins, you alright?”

She shakes herself out of her thoughts, meeting Jamie’s eyes. “Yeah. Just cold.”

Jamie grins, wrapping an arm tightly around Dani’s waist as they walk to the gate and out through Clare. “I think I fancy fish and chips today, that work for you?”

Dani nods, shifting her bag on her shoulder. The rain is still falling, and she’s grateful for deciding to leave the majority of her papers in the office. “Yeah, sounds good.”

She waits outside as Jamie goes in to order, the small shop already cramped enough with the volume of people that have had the same idea. It’s only another five minutes to get home, and they’re both soaked through already - what’s the harm. Jamie emerges about ten minutes later, two steaming parcels wrapped in newspaper tucked under her arm, and Dani envies her the warmth, teasing her lightly about keeping the heat to herself on the walk home. _Trust me, plenty of heat to share with you later,_ Jamie says to her, and Dani rolls her eyes, secretly thrilled at the impact even Jamie’s worst pick-up lines have on her. 

They live on Orchard Street now, a decent, one-bedroom flat, a faint glimpse of Christ’s Pieces if you look out the window from the right angle. Dani loves how easily she and Jamie bleed into it all, a mixture of plants and paperbacks everywhere, postcards on the fridge from various holidays and numerous spices that they’re still not really sure how to use fixed on a shelf above the oven. They have a bath, which Dani remains happy about, far too many years using tiny showers in student accommodation having more than taken their toll - one of her favourite things to do is light up a load of candles and lie there with Jamie, talking about everything and nothing, simply existing in each other’s company. They’re good at that.

The rain begins to get more vicious against the windows as they plate up, curling on the sofa as Jamie turns the radio on. The wind is howling, and Dani has a horrible feeling that Jamie’s right, that it’s gearing up for a thunderstorm. She tries to focus on the radio, on Jamie talking about her plans for their undergraduate gardening club on Monday, but it feels as if words are going in one ear and straight out of the other. She’s on autopilot as she takes their plates over to the sink, washing them up in what feels to her like a tense silence. 

“What’s wrong, love?”

Dani is about to answer her when the first crack of thunder happens, and she drops the plate in fear, hearing Jamie’s concerned exclamation as it smashes on the floor. She’s already shaking, made worse by the voice in her head taunting. _Twenty nine and you’re scared of a thunderstorm,_ it says. _Pathetic._

Jamie turns the tap off and takes her in her arms, muttering an _oh, baby, come here,_ as she does, Dani still unable to move much beyond letting herself be held. They stand for a moment, and Jamie begins to pull away to look at her, when there’s another loud rumble and the lights cut out, plunging them into darkness. Dani honest-to-God _shrieks_ , clutching Jamie tightly as she squeezes her eyes shut, unable to register the soft hand rubbing between her shoulder blades. The comforting words Jamie is no doubt saying to her blur together. Jamie slowly maneuvers them out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, stumbling a little in the dark as they go, feeling for the bed and setting Dani on it. 

“I’m going to get the candles from the bathroom, but I’m going to keep talking the whole time, okay? So you know I’m here, and you’re not alone.”

Jamie launches into a full narration of what she’s doing and where she’s going, raising her voice as she enters the bathroom to make sure Dani can still hear her. It seems to take an age for Jamie to find the candles and matches to light them with, Dani unable to move the whole time, too worried that the sky splitting open above them is finally going to get her. Finally going to catch up with her after years of riding on borrowed time.

“Almost done, okay? Just lighting them now.”

True to her word, Jamie strikes the matches, and a gentle, flickering light illuminates the room. Dani can feel the faint trickle of tears on her cheeks, not quite sure when she started crying, and Jamie comes to kneel in front of her, taking hold of her hands and kissing them. 

“Can you talk right now?”

She shakes her head.

“Okay. Is it the storm?”

Dani nods. 

“The power cut?”

Another nod.

“Is me touching you okay?”

She nods again, more enthusiastically. 

“Okay. Alright. I’m going to get you a t-shirt, get you out of your work clothes, and then we’re going to get under the covers, and I’m going to talk to you, or read to you, whichever you prefer, until you can talk back, yeah? Then we can talk about this if you want, or something else if you don’t. Up to you. You’re in control, Dani.”

Dani nods for a final time as Jamie stands, leaning down to kiss her forehead as she gets them both something to sleep in. The voice in Dani’s mind is still shouting at her, telling her that she’s ridiculous, pathetic, embarrassing, but she does her best to silence it, watching as Jamie gets changed and then makes her way back over. Jamie undoes her belt for her, then her shirt buttons, and Dani feels her consciousness come back a little, changing her clothes with Jamie’s support and burrowing under the covers. Their flat isn’t cold, but she always gets chilly at night.

True to word, Jamie moves the candles to their bedside table, picking up the book that had conveniently been left on the side; Helen Fielding’s _Bridget Jones’ Diary._ Dani had started it a few days back, enjoying the lighter read than the academic journals she spends most of her time crawling through, and Jamie’s voice is a welcome distraction, carrying right on through the increasingly-frequent rolls of thunder, not flinching as lightning hits the room. Dani grounds herself on the consistency, not paying as much attention to the story as she is to Jamie, who has a comforting arm around her, playing with her hair as Dani cuddles into her side. 

She manages to calm down enough to speak after about half an hour, her voice shaky, but her want to explain herself surfacing just above her terror. 

“My dad died in a thunderstorm.”

Jamie stops reading, putting the book down on the side and shuffling down until she’s face to face with Dani. 

“I don’t really remember what happened, some car accident. But there was a thunderstorm that night, when he didn’t come back. I think that’s when it started.”

Jamie kisses her forehead, squeezing her close. “I’m so sorry, that’s horrible.”

“Yeah. Ever since then they just, I don’t know. Freak me out.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

Dani nods. “I don’t really know how to describe it. Feels like the world’s splitting apart. Like something’s coming through to get me. Lightning isn’t so bad, but the sound of the thunder, just brings it all back, y’know?”

“Yeah. That makes sense.”

Another crash of thunder comes, prompting Dani to freeze again. Jamie holds her tightly, slips a leg between her own, speaks reassurances and comforts into her hair, a hand returning to thread through golden strands reassuringly. 

“I used to hate them too, in juvie. The whole place would shake, cheaply built. The other kids took the piss out of you if you were scared, so we all just sucked it up. Bit different, you’ve got a real reason to be scared. But I’m just tryna say that I get it, yeah? Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Dani feels her eyes welling up, letting the warmth of Jamie against her ease the edges of her panic.

“I think it’s getting further away. Count with me?”

Dani nods, and they wait for the next clap of thunder. “One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi-“ Jamie counts with her, rubbing her arm comfortingly. 

“-twelve Mississippi, thirt-“

Another loud crash of thunder interrupts them, and Jamie presses a long kiss to Dani’s head. “See? Twelve miles away. We’ll check again in a minute, and I reckon it’ll be even further. Worst of it is done.”

Dani nods, mumbling a _thank you_ as she kisses Jamie’s collarbone. Jamie listening to her isn’t exactly a foreign concept, but she’s still got the feelings of being ignored or ridiculed in the back of her mind, years of her feelings being ignored and dismissed still coming back to haunt her every now and again. But Jamie stands a contrast to it, her unwavering understanding and willingness to comfort Dani regardless of the circumstances a beacon of light that Dani orbits around. Jamie is the sun and Dani the Earth, constantly grounded and solidified by the woman she spends her life with. She wonders, sometimes, where she’d be if she didn’t have Jamie. On the surface, probably not a lot different. She’d have finished her degree, gone on to teach, probably stayed in Cambridge or moved to London. But she wouldn’t be half the person she is now. Jamie gives her space and strength to grow, to evolve - the people she left behind in Iowa wouldn’t recognise her, these days. She’s such a far cry from the scared, naïve twenty three year old that first hopped on that plane on the off chance things would get better.

They count the next gap between the thunder, fifteen miles this time, and Dani feels herself begin to relax as Jamie tells her they’ve got about another hour left before it goes. It’s a Saturday tomorrow, a day off for both of them, and Dani’s increasingly glad for that, catching sight of the clock behind Jamie’s shoulder telling her it’s about a quarter past midnight. Jamie talks about their plans for the week, something to focus Dani on in the future - dinner with Hannah and Owen on Tuesday, a cinema trip to see _Titanic_ on Friday, the garden club Dani runs with her on Thursday afternoons. They have date nights every Sunday like clockwork, and this Sunday they’re getting the train to Ely to see the cathedral and go for dinner. Dani’s started a quest to see every cathedral in England, having already done the York Minster, Westminster Abbey, Lincoln Cathedral, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Gloucester Cathedral - not bad, considering they’ve only been keeping score for a year and a half. 

The storm is seventeen miles away, then twenty, and the noise gets fainter, Dani feeling her body finally relax as Jamie talks. She leans her head up from under Jamie’s chin to kiss her, pouring her gratitude in as best she can. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, Poppins. Always. Feel like you can sleep?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. Wake me if you get scared again, yeah?”

“You haven’t slept since half six this morning, I’m not going to make you-“

Jamie’s hand moves from her back, and Dani feels a finger on her lips. “You’re not making me do anything, Dani. I love you. I love supporting you. You’re my everything, yeah? So you wake me if you get scared. Even if I’m having sweet dreams of shagging you in Ely Cathedral.”

Dani chuckles at that, returning Jamie’s beaming smile as she turns over, settling as Jamie’s arm rests over her waist, spooning her gently and pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. “Sleep well,” she says, feeling Jamie’s low hum behind her. 

“Oh, believe me. I’m already picturing Ely.”

**Author's Note:**

> was really nice to revisit them here for a bit, missed them (and you lot, though it’s so heartwarming to see so many familiar names over at love shack)
> 
> comments appreciated, thunderstorms too, and if anyone wants to hook up in ely cathedral i’m free on monday


End file.
